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Tenant in Calgary ‘embassy’ dispute facing arrest in Quebec

Andreas Pirelli — in a dispute with landlady over his rented “embassy” — has a 2010 arrest warrant for failing to appear at his assault trial.

Rebekah Caverhill's disputed rental property in Calgary: the Alberta pensioner says the tenant, who identified himself as a Freemen-on-the-Land — a growing movement of so-called sovereign citizens — claimed the duplex as his "embassy" and changed the locks. On Tuesday, a Calgary court issued an eviction court. (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Rebekah Caverhill looks through documents at her home in Sylvan Lake, Alta., as she discusses problems with a tenant who identified himself as a Freemen-on-the-Land and claims her rental property as his "embassy." On Tuesday, news broke that the tenant was named three years ago on a Montreal arrest warrant arising from an assault charge. (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By Bill GravelandThe Canadian Press

Wed., Sept. 25, 2013

CALGARY—The man who an Alberta senior says claimed her rental property as a sovereign “embassy” had a warrant issued for his arrest in Quebec three years ago when he stopped showing up in the middle of his assault trial.

Andreas Pirelli, 48, who sources have confirmed also goes by the name Mario Antonacci, was on trial in Montreal in May 2010 when he failed to show up and a warrant was issued, media reports say.

The assault charges stemmed from an incident in Sept. 20, 2007 in which a landlady was allegedly thrown down a flight of stairs, suffering several broken bones.

According to reports from the trial, the man in that case also claimed, as part of a sovereign movement, that the landlady’s rental property was an embassy. He and a co-accused faced a number of charges including aggravated assault.

In the latest confrontation, Alberta senior Rebekah Caverhill has been locked in a two-year battle with Pirelli, who she says identified himself as a follower of the Freemen-on-the-Land movement, has gutted her rental duplex, changed the locks and has refused to leave.

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Caverhill says she has been billed for renovations the man did inside the home and that he had a lien placed on the property.

Pirelli did not respond to an email request from The Canadian Press for a comment on the Quebec warrant.

When The Canadian Press asked him about Caverhill’s initial allegations, he responded with a warning that he has trademark claims on the name “Andreas Pirelli” and “The First Nations Sovran Embassy of Earth.”

A Calgary police official, too, declined to comment on the Quebec warrant.

Earlier this week a police spokesman said it was consulting with the Alberta Crown prosecutors office about whether criminal charges could be laid in the case.

A representative for Pirelli appeared before Court of Queen’s Bench Master Judith Hanebury. (A master is a judicial official that handles matters in civil court that would otherwise fall to a judge.) The representative initially refused to give his name in court.

“He (Andreas Pirelli) is in lockdown,” the man said. “This has been turned into an international incident. There have been several thousand death threats.”

“I can’t hear from you if you won’t give your name,” she said and approved an eviction order.

The Law Society of British Columbia and B.C. Notaries have both issued warnings about the Freemen. In a bulletin last year, the society said the group may number as many as 30,000 in Canada.

The FBI considers the movement a domestic terror threat in the U.S. but a Freemen-on-the-Land spokesman told The Canadian Press earlier this month that violence is not advocated and has no place in the movement.

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